India's National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) has approved its first-ever partial credit enhancement for a corporate bond issue, backing a ₹620 crore ($74 million) issuance by Think Gas Ludhiana.
The intervention upgrades the bond's credit rating to AA+, providing the city gas distributor with lower-cost capital to finance its infrastructure rollout.
The transaction marks a structural shift in India's infrastructure financing landscape, as NaBFID moves beyond direct lending to support capital markets.
By stepping in to enhance credit quality, the state-backed lender aims to deepen the domestic bond market for mid-sized infrastructure projects that might otherwise face higher borrowing costs or limited investor appetite.
Think Gas, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, is accelerating its domestic expansion with a target to add between 400,000 and 500,000 new Piped Natural Gas (PNG) consumers by December 2026.
The company has cited supportive government initiatives as a key driver for this growth, which requires significant upfront capital expenditure for pipeline networks and distribution infrastructure.